Runners go the distance…in ribbon dancing

As a member of the cross-country team, Keith Moody is used to performing in front of a crowd, but when he stood up on the stage of the Dorothy Betts Theater wearing a woman’s bathing suits, and holding dancing ribbons, he said the experience was totally different.

“We’re used to sports and racing. It was kind of a different energy,” Moody said about his Thursday night ribbon dance performance. The act included theatrical lighting, Journey’s song “Separate Ways,” and an array of dancing techniques including leaps, jumps and even lifts alongside partner Collin Stevenson, a junior and fellow cross country athlete.

Last week, members of the GW athletic community showed off their artistic side at the third annual athlete talent show, sponsored by the Student Athlete Advisory Council. The event is meant to strengthen the relationship between the athletes and the student body – though most of the attendees were athletes or friends of athletes.

“We would have liked to include the student body,” Moody said. “It’s (still) kind of a small event.”

The talent show was also intended to raise money for the Special Olympics, but none was collected. Moody and Stevenson said the organizers were more concerned about getting teams to create acts than getting funds for the cause.

Junior Stephanie Covello, a member of the women’s soccer team and the student host of the night’s event said that the talent show is, “kind of a tradition that we’ve had in the athletic community.” Only in the past couple of years have the athletes used it as a catalyst for school spirit, she said.

Stevenson and Moody, who took home this year’s first place prize, performed a ribbon dance last year, but Stevenson described their performance this year as, “far superior.”

The dancing couple practiced for two hours the night before the event and both said they were not surprised by their victory. Stevenson said he was, however, disappointed with his own wardrobe malfunction-he forgot to remove his T-shirt before making his debut on stage.

“People were robbed of seeing me in my costume,” Stevenson said about the bathing suit he was wearing.

Moody said his costume – a women’s swimsuit he borrowed from a member of the swim team that he described as 30 pounds lighter – was binding.

“I thought I was going to break it,” Moody said.

Other athletes sang songs, played instruments and put on skits. Moody said that the acts improved from last year’s performances, which were mostly humorous skits.